"Sometimes the biggest inhibitor of the innovation process is ourselves," says author and blogger Jonathan Richman. Sometimes it's external forces (regulations, guidelines, naysayers). Still other times it's our interpretation of the external forces. This last one is perhaps the most menacing.

External forces include pesky things called laws that always seem to make it all a bit more complicated for pharmaceutical marketers. Like laws, rules and regulations, such as those from the FDA, often dictate what we can and can't do. Most of us know the rules and are forced to live under them.

What If There Were No Rules in Pharma Marketing? There's no FDA, no DDMAC, no FTC. Your company guidelines and rules don't exist and your regulatory and legal teams have been disbanded. It's a free-for-all and there are no rules. The question is: what would you do?